Teacher not charged in slapping

June 03, 2006|YONIKA WILLIS Tribune Staff Writer

ELKHART -- An Eastwood Elementary School kindergarten teacher will not face charges for slapping a student March 9. The Elkhart County prosecutor's office made the decision Friday after an extensive investigation. Crystal Clark contacted the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department after her 5-year-old son came home from school and told her he'd been slapped in the face by his kindergarten teacher, Nancy J. Thompson. Thompson was alleged to have slapped the child after she bent down to help him. He inadvertently yelled loudly into her ear, prompting her to "react" by trying to stop the pain, thus striking the child on his face, Prosecutor Curtis Hill said in a press release. "During the initial meeting between Ms. Thompson, the principal and (Clark), Ms. Thompson's explanation was that the slapping was incidental to her reaction to a loud scream in her ear," Hill said. "Her position has remained that way throughout the investigation, and there has been no information presented to me that would suggest that Thompson intentionally slapped the child as punishment." The investigation indicated that Thompson, who has been employed by Elkhart Community Schools for 31 years and taught at Eastwood Elementary School for 10 years, has no history suggesting a pattern or a problem with disciplining children, Hill added.Clark's son was removed from the classroom after the incident.Staff writer Yonika Willis: ywillis@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6556